Surpassing a Loved One
by BlazingShadow24
Summary: Ash is slowly progressing through the Sinnoh league, but doesn't feel that he's getting as strong as he could be. He decides to make many changes, and sets his eyes on becoming the next champion. As he faces many physical and mental challenges, he will find out it isn't an easy road, especially when your trying to surpass someone you suddenly have feelings for. Ash/Cynthia, rated T
1. Bringing Home The Fen Badge!

**Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome to my first attempt at writing a story. This will be an Ash/Cynthia pairing as there aren't too many stories with that pairing and I wanted to begin writing with something unique. As this is my first story, I hope everyone will be able to review and tell me what they like, what they didn't and anything else I could change. This would greatly help me become a better writer as I will be reading every single review to see what I can change and make better and what I can retain that is good. Finally, thank you for giving this story a chance and giving me a chance to develop my skills as a writer. I assure you my AN will not be this long from now on, if any.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way or shape.**

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"

With a burst of speed, Pikachu charged towards its opponent while covered in an electrically charged light. Before the defending Pokémon could even move a step in self defence, Pikachu hit it head on with its powerful tackle. As both Pikachu and Gyarados hit the water, only the Electric Mouse Pokémon emerged out of the water conscious.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, victory goes to Pikachu!"

As Ash and Pikachu embraced each other in a hug in celebration of their victory, Crasher Wake was starting to look quite worried. As he returned Gyarados back into its Pokéball, he started to think of what his last Pokémon should be. When the match had first started, it had been Pikachu vs. Quagsire. Due to Quagsire's Ground typing, Pikachu hadn't been making much progress, so Ash had quickly been forced to switch Pikachu with Turtwig. Turtwig had been able to take out Quagsire relatively quickly with its Energy Ball, but got beat down fast against Crasher Wake's Gyarados. In retaliation, Ash quickly had Pikachu take center stage again, and the yellow rodent had used its amazing speed to outmatch Gyarados and take it down with a single Volt Tackle. Now Crasher Wake was left at a disadvantageous position with Ash having his Pikachu and one other Pokémon remaining, while he only had his last Pokémon left. Well, Crasher Wake wasn't going to throw down the towel just yet! His final Pokémon will turn everything around and win him the match, he just knew it. He just had to have faith in his remaining Pokémon, and believe that it would pull through for him.

"Well Ash, you've done amazingly well against me so far and I am more than impressed with your skill and strength. However, this is where it all ends. Prepare to face my strongest Pokémon of all, Floatzel!"

As Floatzel emerged from its Pokéball, it landed gracefully on a platform and smirked at Pikachu, causing the electric rodent to get a little nervous. Noticing this, Ash looked at Pikachu and smiled.

"Don't worry Pikachu, this match won't be a sweat. Victory is as good as ours, just you wait and see!"

In the stands, Brock and Dawn were watching the match progress with much attention and cheering Ash on. Brock looked at Floatzel and went into deep thought. Dawn who was sitting next to him noticed this, and asked him what was wrong.

"Well, Ash's Pikachu may have the type advantage here, but that Floatzel looks much stronger than any of Crasher Wake's other two Pokémon. And Pikachu is quite worn out from its battles against Quagsire and Gyarados. I'm afraid this won't be as easy as Ash thinks."

Dawn looked at Ash's Pikachu and had to admit that Pikachu did look very tired and was panting hard even as it stared at Floatzel with confidence burning in its eyes. Meanwhile Floatzel was staring down Pikachu with a somewhat bored look, as though it thought that Pikachu wasn't really worth fighting and that it was just a waste of its time. Ash decided not to waste any more time and had Pikachu start off with a quick attack. As Pikachu got quite close to Floatzel, Ash quickly had Pikachu use Iron Tail. But just as the attack was about to hit, Crasher Wake had Floatzel use Aqua Jet to avoid the attack at the last second, and Floatzel quickly came up behind Pikachu and hit it full force, taking both of them into the water. As Pikachu struggled to swim to the top, Floatzel came in with another Aqua Jet. Before the attack had hit its mark however, Pikachu let loose a thunderbolt underwater that quickly spread and hit Floatzel full force.

As the sea weasel was trying to recover from it injuries, Pikachu took the opportunity to quickly swim to the top and get onto a platform. Ash decided to get in another thunderbolt in a bid to finish this match quickly, but Crasher Wake had other plans. Floatzel quickly emerged from the water with Aqua Jet right as Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit the water. Floatzel hit Pikachu hard, sending him into the air. Before Pikachu even had a chance to get his bearings, Floatzel got in a direct hit with Razor Wind. This combo proved to be too much for poor Pikachu as it ended up on a platform with stars in its eyes.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, therefore victory goes to Floatzel!"

As Floatzel got onto another platform, Ash pondered over what his last Pokémon should be. That Floatzel was indeed very powerful, and it would take a Pokémon that was just as skilled in combat in a watery terrain to defeat it. All of a sudden, realization hit Ash, and he pulled out his next Pokéball.

"I choose you, Buizel!"

Buizel stood proudly on one of the platforms with its arms crossed as it stared down Floatzel. However, Floatzel didn't seem to be too worried. If anything, it looked even more confident upon seeing its pre-evolved form. Since it was the evolved form of Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokémon was quite sure that it was the stronger of the two, and that it would be the one to win this fight hands down. This time, Crasher Wake decided to get things started first and had Floatzel charge in with an Aqua Jet. At the same time, Ash had Buizel counter with an Aqua Jet of its own. When the two priority attacks hit each other, both Buizel and Floatzel were blasted away from each other from the resulting explosion. Floatzel quickly recovered from the fall and Crasher Wake had it use a Bulk Up/ Ice Fang Combo on Buizel, but Buizel quickly launched a Water Pulse in its direction to disorient it. Floatzel avoided it and launched a Razor Wind attack as Buizel blasted towards Floatzel with an Aqua Jet attack. Narrowly missing the attack, Buizel rammed into its foe and took both of them into the water. As both of the Pokémon battled it out underwater, trying to undermine the other, Ash was quickly trying to think up a strategy to tip the odds in his favour.

Brock and Dawn had their eyes glued to the match, and as they watched the spectacular underwater display of battle skills, they could only wonder who the end winner would end up being. Both Pokémon seemed almost equal in strength, with Floatzel being a little bit stronger. It currently seemed like Crasher Wake's Pokémon would be the winner, but they knew how strong Buizel's willpower was. Like Ash, Buizel refused to give up in any match and would give its all to try and win. Heck, all of Ash's Pokémon seemed to take after Ash in regards to that never give up attitude. They would push themselves to any limits to succeed and make Ash proud of them. Buizel especially tended to go all out, as if its pride and dignity were on the line. And right now was no different as Buizel launched an underwater water pulse attack at Floatzel, which it barely avoided and then came after Buizel with an Ice Fang attack. However, Buizel quickly propelled itself out the water and landed on a platform. Just as Floatzel emerged from the water, Ash decided to execute his strategy.

"Buizel, use Sonicboom, then while its down, follow up with a Water Gun attack."

Buizel pulled off the sequence perfectly and before long, Floatzel was struggling to stand up. Crasher Wake decided to take full charge of the situation and had Floatzel execute a Razor Wind attack followed closely by Ice Fang. But just as Floatzel was about to finish off Buizel with its Ice Fang, Ash had Buizel use Water Pulse and as Floatzel tried to recover from the attack, Ash wrapped it up with an Aqua Jet attack that rendered Floatzel unconscious.

"Floatzel is no longer able to battle, therefore victory goes to Buizel and the winner of the match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

As the stands erupted into Brock and Dawn's cheering, Crasher Wake sighed and both he and Ash returned their Pokémon. While both Pokémon had fought their very best, Ash's Pokémon emerged the victor and his had lost and that was that.

"Well done Ash. Both you and your Pokémon fought well and though I tried my best to defeat you, you proved to be too strong. You are most definitely deserving of this Fen Badge and I wish you the best of luck in your future battles."

Ash thanked Crasher Wake for a great battle and exited the Gym with Brock and Dawn. As he reflected on the match, he had to admit that the last fight had been quite a bit shaky and that he could very easily have lost the match. Brock saw that he was lost in thought and asked what was wrong.

"I had been doing quite well until that Floatzel had shown up. While it's definitely a strong Pokémon, I shouldn't have had such a tough time beating it. I need to become much stronger than I am now if I want to become a Pokémon Master."

"I admit that you had a tough time in that Gym battle, especially near the end, however you have to understand that you really are getting stronger and that with each fight, your Pokémon are slowly but surely becoming much more powerful than they were before. Look at Buizel for example. Even though it had been facing its evolved form, it held its own and managed to come out a winner in the end."

"And you've definitely become much stronger since we first met, Ash." Dawn had been listening in on the conversation and had decided to join in. " I doubt you would have been able to beat Crasher Wake back when you first came to Sinnoh."

"Hmm, that's true. I don't think I was even close to being this strong back then and my Pokémon have also definitely come a long way then."

Ash looked at his newly earned badge, his fourth one overall. He had definitely come a long way on his journey through Sinnoh and he knew he would only get stronger from here on out. As he looked at Pikachu who was perched on his shoulder, Ash smiled and then looked at his two friends and travel companions.

"Alright guys, let's have some lunch cause I'm starving! And I can't become a Pokémon Master on an empty stomach now, can I?"

As they all laughed and walked away to find a place to set up lunch, a mysterious Pokémon was watching them from the shadows with amusement in its eyes.

**Well that's it for the first chapter. Tell me what you think of it so far, and what changes I should make. Once again thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy!**


	2. Decisions, Decisions!

**Before this chapter begins, I want to say thank you to all who gave this story a chance and also answer a few questions. Inferno972, thank you for the compliment, it really made my day to see that people like this story. As for your questions, I will try to clarify more on what's happening from now on, and as for updating, I will go for at least 1-2 chapters as a reasonable goal. However if I can get more chapters in, then I shall. we'll just have to see how well I can fit this into my life schedule. LightRayPearlshipper, thank you very much for taking an interest in the story and even more so for the constructive criticism you have given me. While it was not my intention to novelize the anime in any way, I can see where your coming from. I admit I had forgotten to factor in that instinctive response, so I immediately edited that part of the story to hopefully be a little bit better while still staying consistent with the story. I thank you all again for your responses and comments like these are what will help me improve as a writer. Anyways, on with the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. But I can wish I did, right?**

It was well into the evening as the three friends decided to stop and make camp for the night. Brock had started cooking food for them and their Pokémon, and Dawn was currently inside her tent, chatting with her Piplup and fixing up her appearance. Ash had instead opted to sit outside with Pikachu as he gazed at his badges, remembering how all of his fights had gone to acquire each badge.

First up had been the Coal badge that he had won from Roark at Oreburgh City. His first gym battle in Sinnoh had definitely been a huge surprise to him. He hadn't expected Roark's .Cranidos to be as strong as it was, since this was only the first Gym. And yet Cranidos had single-handedly taken out two of Ash's Pokémon and severely weakened his final Pokémon, before his Turtwig had finally beaten it. But in the end it lost to Roark's Onix, causing Ash to lose the match. Ash later on had a rematch with Roark where he finally beat the Gym Leader, but the disappointment of him losing in his very first gym match had been upsetting for Ash. He had beaten many Gym Leaders before, and had competed in quite a few competitions, including League Championships. Even if Sinnoh's Gym Leaders were stronger than the previous ones he had fought, Ash had never thought that he would be defeated so easily and just by the very first Gym at that!

Up next had been the Forest Badge he had obtained from Gardenia in Eterna City. While he hadn't lost in that fight, it had been quite close and he had barely been able to pull off a victory. After that had been the Cobble badge from Maylene in Veilstone City, which also resulted in a close call victory, though Ash had done well in the beginning. And finally his newly earned Fen Badge from Crasher Wake in Pastoria City...

While Ash had to admit that he was progressively getting better and better with each fight, he felt he was still far from reaching his goal. At this rate, he'd only be adequate by the time he'd receive his final badge. Ash was definitely not pleased with the slow progress he was making, and while he was definitely not going to stoop to Paul's level to become stronger, he definitely wanted to become stronger at a much faster pace than what he was currently going at. Pikachu was looking a little worried for his Trainer. Usually, Ash was never upset about anything and even if he was, he'd usually recover from it quickly and would go back to being his usual cheery self. The little rodent didn't like seeing its Trainer so down and it hopped onto Ash's lap and snuggled up.

Ash snapped out of his train of thought and looked down at his partner and friend. Pikachu was his oldest friend and the one he shared the deepest bond with. Together, they had faced many difficult challenges and had come out on top. Even now, he knew he could always count on Pikachu to pull him out of a tight jam. But was he doing Pikachu any justice by not being his very best? Pokémon relied on their Trainers to guide them in battle, and to make the decisions that would decide the fate of the battle. If any one side lost, then it wasn't because of the Pokémon that they lost, but instead it was because the Trainer wasn't competent enough to win the match. If Ash wasn't doing so well against Gym Leaders today, then it wasn't because of his Pokémon that it was so, but rather that Ash himself wasn't skilled enough.

By this time, Brock had finished making supper and called out to Ash and Dawn to come and join him. Ash snapped out of his stupor and slowly made his way over to where Brock and Dawn were now sitting, Pikachu sitting atop his shoulders. As they started eating, both Brock and Dawn couldn't help but notice that Ash hadn't taken a single bite. Normally he would have gulped down many plates before they could have even finished their first one. Having an idea of what Ash might be upset about, Brock decided to make conversation with Ash in hopes of making Ash feel better. He wasn't used to seeing Ash so down and for so long at that.

"So Ash, you have four Gym Badges in total now, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I suppose so."

"Are you ready to get your fifth Gym Badge? I hear there's a Gym in Hearthome City and that's not too far from here."

"That's nice. I guess I'm ready for it."

"You guess?"

"I don't really know anymore."

"Hmm. Ash, this isn't like you at all. Normally you'd be running over yourself to get to the next city quickly and try to earn your next Gym badge. Mind telling me what's bringing you down?"

Ash paused and took a deep breath. "Brock, the thing is-"

All of a sudden, they heard rustling from a couple of bushes nearby. Pikachu went full "alert mode" as he jumped in between the bushes and his friends. All eyes were focused on the bushes to see what was lurking in the shadows of the bushes. Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, a blue orb of aura blasted out of the bushes towards them, intercepted by Pikachu's Iron Tail before it could hit, and sent back towards the bushes. Suddenly, a shadow leaped out of the bushes and disappeared into the forest. Pikachu stayed focused on the trees just in case another sneak attack was attempted, while Ash, Brock and Dawn were stupefied of what had suddenly transpired.

"Did a Pokémon just suddenly try to attack us out of the blue?" Dawn barely got her words out, shock still evident in her eyes. Piplup was clinging onto Dawn's leg as though his life depended on it. Brock took a second to process what happened moments ago.

"Yes, for whatever reason, a Pokémon targeted us with its Aura Sphere attack. If I had to guess, I would say it was most likely a fighting type Pokémon. Why it would suddenly attack us though is beyond even me."

Ash was deep in thought. Why on earth would a Pokémon suddenly attack them when they had seemingly done nothing to provoke them. Were they invading its territory? If so, why had it attacked from the shadows rather than showing itself and asserting its authority? Was it injured and had attacked in self defence? Unlikely, considering how fast it had moved when it had disappeared into the trees. Ash thought of many reasons as to why the Pokémon may have attacked them, but none of them seemed likely. He just couldn't wrap his head around the seemingly unprovoked attack.

'Well, whatever the reason may have been' he thought. 'The Pokémon was gone now so there was no point in worrying about it now'

The sun had set by this time and night had just started rolling in. While Brock and Dawn had retired to their tents to get some rest, Ash was just too wound up to get any sleep so he decided to just train his Pokémon for a while and sleep if he does get tired later on. Ash released his Pokémon from their respective Pokéballs, and he was greeted with the faces of Buizel, Turtwig, Staravia, Chimchar, and Gligar. Pikachu was at his usual spot, perched on top of Ash's shoulders.

"Alright guys, while we have been getting better, we could definitely use a lot more training. I know we can do far better than what we've been doing, and that if we push ourselves a little more, we'll definitely reach our goal."

While the rest of his Pokémon cheered in agreement, Ash noticed that Chimchar was a little hesitant. Ash was able to understand completely why that was though. Ever since Chimchar had decided to join them, he was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he no longer would have to endure the harsh treatment that had been given to him by his previous trainer, Paul. When Chimchar had been released by Paul right in front of Ash, Ash had been extremely angry as he looked at Chimchar's bruised and hurt form. The mental pain he had endured was even deeper and evident as it practically poured out of Chimchar's eyes. Ash had been unable to see him in that condition and had decided to ask Chimchar if he was willing to join him. He had wanted nothing more than to help Chimchar become stronger both physically and mentally and to prove to him that a bond of kindness can exist between Trainer and Pokémon.

While the other four Pokémon partnered up and sparred with each other, Ash had Pikachu be Chimchar's partner with a silent command to go a little easy on the fire chimp Pokémon. As Ash sat down next to a tree and supervised his Pokémon, his mind wandered back to his current performance. What was he going to do now? What could he do to make himself better, for both himself and his Pokémon? Could he even become stronger? Or was he doomed to repeat his failures over and over again? As these questions and more flooded his mind, Ash noticed his Pokémon had stopped their training, and were looking towards a tree not far from Ash.

As Ash looked carefully in that direction, he could make out a faint outline of someone leaning against a tree and watching them. The figure stepped out into the moonlight and Ash was now able to see the person more clearly. It was a woman, seemingly in her early twenties, dressed in a black coat, trousers and top, with a black feathery scarf around her neck and two black clips on each side of her hair that looked similar to Lucario's aura appendages. She had long, beautiful blonde hair and piercing gray eyes. Ash slowly recognized her as the Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia. He had only met her once before in Amity Square, where she had been discussing about an ancient tablet there, and had also defeated Paul easily with just her Garchomp.

While Ash continued to stare at her in surprise, Cynthia looked first at Ash's Pokémon and then turned her gaze towards Ash. For a while, they seemed content with just looking at each other, until finally Cynthia decided to speak up.

"Hello there. It's nice to meet you. If I remember correctly, your name is Ash right?"

Ash's voice seemed to have left him, so all he could do was nod his head at her. He was mesmerized by the angle the moonlight was hitting her, making her seemingly glow. Cynthia was more focused on Ash's Pokémon however, and slowly a smile made its way onto her face.

"I can see that you and your Pokémon are very close and that the bonds that you share with them are strong. I can tell you must treat them with a lot of love and compassion and the trust that you all share is quite evident. I'm sure you and your Pokémon will be able to overcome any adversity together and it brings joy to my heart to see that such relationships with Pokémon are still common."

Ash was still unable to say anything so he simply opted to stare. Pikachu slowly made his way over to his trainer, and looked curiously at Cynthia while sitting on Ash's lap. Cynthia analyzed both the electric rodent and his Trainer and smiled a little more.

"I can see that you and your Pikachu are the closest of friends and must have been through a lot together. Is he the one you started your journey with?"

"Y-Yeah." Ash's voice seemed to have finally returned so Ash decided to continue speaking.

"I'm guessing that Garchomp was the Pokémon that you started with? Back when you had faced Paul, you and your Garchomp were in such great synch with each other, almost as though you were both one."

At this point, Cynthia laughed a little.

"Yes, me and Garchomp had began our journey together from Celestic Town a long time ago when she was still a little Gible. I have always had this deep connection with her and have relied on her the most out of all my Pokémon during battles. We're a lot like how you and your Pikachu seem to be."

"I see."

A long awkward silence passed as both Trainers continued gazing at each other, lost in thought. Finally, Cynthia decided to break the silence.

"Well, I should get going now. I had come here to meet an old acquaintance of mines who lives around these parts, and now I should get going. I'm sure we will meet again soon, however. Goodbye."

"See you soon then."

As Cynthia walked away, Ash thought about the Champion, and how strong and powerful she was. He knew that she was regarded as the strongest Champion of all, surpassing even the likes of Lance and Steven. In her battle against Paul, he had seen how confident she was as she flawlessly executed moves and took out Paul's Pokémon one by one. As the moon finally started to disappear and day's first light spread across the sky, Ash slowly came to realization that she was exactly the kind of person he wanted to be like. That's it, he decided. he would aim to become stronger than Cynthia and take over her position as Champion of Sinnoh. That would be the ultimate test for him and his Pokémon to prove that they were strong and had what it took to reach the top.

**Well, that's the end of this chapter. Thank you all again for taking the time to read this and willing to give me a chance to become a good writer. Please review and tell me what you think so far as well as what I can do better. I do read each and every single review and take them all seriously. Goodbye for now.**


	3. A Barry Tough Battle!

**Hello again everyone. I just want to give a shout out to Ep135 and say thank you for liking my story. When I see that people do like my story, it encourages me to keep on writing, fueling my already existing motivation to write. I also want to say Thanks to the hundreds of silent readers who have also read my story. Getting such a huge response from everyone in such a short time has been nothing but amazing and wonderful to me. Thank you all again!**

**Disclaimer: Yet again, I still do not own Pokémon. When I do, I'll let you all know. :P**

Brock woke up to the sounds of Starly chirping outside. He slowly started remembering his dream, an army of Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys chasing after him with hearts in their eyes. He himself was sitting in the backseat of a car with a Nurse Joy in each arm, a Jenny driving the car while blowing kisses at him. Brock blushed a deep crimson, while wishing that his dream could somehow come true. Brock quickly shook it off, got dressed up quickly and decided to make breakfast for everyone. He knew Ash and Dawn would usually sleep in a little late and got up around lunchtime but he tended to make breakfast for them just in case. Besides he was sure the Pokémon were quite hungry and were used to getting food at this time so he got out his cooking utensils and walked out of his tent.

Imagine Brock's surprise when he came out to see Ash sitting against a tree, lost in thought, while Pikachu was softly snoring in his lap. Ash's other Pokémon were also out and were resting close to him. Brock carefully approached Ash, being careful not to awaken any of the sleeping Pokémon, and sat down next to him. Ash noticed his presence but didn't say anything.

"You're up pretty early."

"Didn't sleep."

"Oh? Anything disturbing you?"

"Before, but now I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do."

"Hmm, I see."

Brock closed his eyes and Ash, who turned to look at Brock, could tell that he was deep in thought. A soft breeze had started blowing their way, and as Ash allowed himself to enjoy the cool touch, he could sense Pikachu starting to stir. He gently rubbed Pikachu behind the ears as the yellow rodent slowly opened up his eyes. Pikachu yawned, did a quick stretch and hopped onto his usual spot on Ash. Ash began to rub Pikachu's chin, who cheered in affection. Without warning, Brock stood up and walked back to where he had started cooking. Ash decided to follow him, and as he took a seat where they were going to eat, Dawn came out of her tent and took a seat next to him. They exchanged greetings while Brock handed them their food. They ate on in comfortable silence with Brock joining them after giving the Pokémon their food.

"Ash, You look pretty tired. Didn't get enough sleep?" Dawn was the first one to break the silence.

"Actually I couldn't sleep at all, had too much on my mind."

"Why, what happened?"

"Just wasn't sure of what to do with myself. I've been on a journey for so long, visited so many regions, caught many Pokémon and battled so many Trainers. I even make it pretty high in the regional championships. And yet, whenever I start my journey in a new region, it's like I end up going back to the basics."

"I'm sure you'll do better this time Ash."

"Better is not good enough. I need to become the best if I want to become a Pokémon Master. I need to become as strong as a Champion, if not stronger."

"But Ash, becoming a Champion is a long and extremely difficult road. First you would have to win the championships so you can battle the Elite Four. Then you would have to beat said Elite Four AND the current Champion. Not many people can pull off something like that."

"I'll do it. I'll prove I can do it, I'll prove I'm the best and that I have what it takes. It's the best way for me to show my full potential."

"How are you going to do that though Ash? You've seen how strong Cynthia is. You've yet to beat Paul and she took out his entire team with just one Pokémon. Do you really think you can beat someone like that?"

Ash's hands balled up into fists as his eyes narrowed, his face showing nothing but pure determination.

"Yes! I can and I will. I'll show everyone, just you wait and see."

With that, Ash stood up and walked away to the field he had been training at before. Dawn continued to watch him before she finally turned and looked at Brock.

"Do you really think he can do it?"

"I don't know, but if there's anything I know about Ash, it's that once he decides on something, not even Arceus can stop him from trying to do that."

And just like that, Brock got up as well, put his dishes away and went into his tent to pack, with Dawn doing something that suddenly seemed to have become common with the friends now. Getting lost in thought.

It was evening now as the group headed towards Hearthome City and Ash's fifth Gym Badge. The sky had become quite clouded now as opposed to the sunny morning they had. The wind had picked up fast and Brock deduced that it might rain soon, so the group was now racing to Hearthome City in an attempt to beat the rain. Pikachu was in his usual spot and hanging on tightly in fear of being blown off. As they ran, Pikachu thought he heard sounds in the trees behind them. But when he looked back he saw nothing but the trees. Pikachu decided to ignore it for now, however he still couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being followed.

By the time they had finally arrived in the familiar city of Hearthome City, they were completely drenched by the rain's constant barrage, and as they entered the Pokémon Centre, Dawn seemed as though she may have picked up a cold as her body was wracked with constant sneezing. Once all their Pokémon were checked out and handed back, Ash wanted to go out and have his Pokémon hone their moves in the rain as a means of training. But no sooner had he opened the doors to leave, he was tackled down onto the ground by a blonde haired kid.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going, kid! You need glasses or something?"

"What do you mean? You're the one who slammed into me! Who the heck are you anyways?"

"How can you not know me? I'm Barry, possibly the strongest Trainer in Sinnoh! Soon I'll become stronger than even my Idol, Paul, just you see!"

"Whatever, you can think whatever you want, it makes no difference to me. Wait, did you say you idolize someone like Paul?"

"Yea, why, you wish you could be as strong as him?"

"You're kidding right? He's the last person I want to be like. Anyone who treats his Pokémon like dirt makes me mad."

"Well yeah, if you want to be the best, then you need to have the strongest Pokémon. Weak Pokémon just will not do."

"How can you say that? Don't you have any feelings or connections with your Pokémon? "

"Bonds like that are what makes Trainers weak. I want to be strong, and possess the strongest Pokémon, that's all. If you think I'm wrong, how about we battle right now, one on one?"

Ash was enraged with this Barry guy's attitude. On one hand, the last thing he needed to deal with was another Paul. On the other hand, he couldn't just sit there and let this guy show him up, as if Paul's ideology was the best! He couldn't stand to let another Pokémon be ill-treated.

"Alright, let's do this, right here, right now. We'll have a quick match in the field behind the Pokémon Center."

"Ha! No sweat! This'll be over before I even break a sweat!"

Both of the Trainers made their way to the field and got into position. Brock came out as well and decided to ref the match.

"This will be a one on one match between Ash from Pallet Town and Barry from..."

"Twinleaf Town!"

"And Barry from Twinleaf Town. The Pokémon that's left standing will be the winner. You may now begin."

And with that, both Trainers sent out their Pokémon, Ash choosing his Pikachu and Barry sending out an Empoleon. Ash quickly looked it up on his Pokédex before he issued his first command.

"Water and Steel type huh? Pikachu, let's begin with a Quick Attack!"

"Block its attack with Steel Wing!"

As Pikachu got in close, Empoleon quickly brought up its steel covered wings and stopped him in his tracks, before sending him flying back towards Ash. Pikachu managed to recover in midair and landed safely on the ground. Wasting no time at all, Barry had Empoleon fire off a Hyper Beam at Pikachu, who deftly avoided the attack. Taking advantage of Empoleon's frozen state, Ash had Pikachu unleash a powerful thunderbolt that hit Empoleon dead on. Thinking the match to be over, Ash was about to walk away when...

"Now, Empoleon, hit it with Hydro Cannon!"

A huge blast of water hit Pikachu like a ton of bricks, smashing him into a nearby tree. Pikachu had just started to get back on its feet, when Empoleon came at it with Steel Wing, pummeling him into the ground. Ash got worried and called out to his friend. Pikachu responded and got back up, surprising Barry and Empoleon. Ash smiled and had Pikachu take advantage of the situation with a powerful Volt Tackle. However, despite being heavily weakened and injured, Empoleon was still standing proud, not willing to lose the match. Pikachu attempted to get in another Thunderbolt, but this time Empoleon managed to avoid the attack and instead came after Pikachu with another Steel Wing. Pikachu was forced to resort to Quick Attack to dodge, as a barrage of Steel Wing attacks came at him relentlessly.

"Pikachu, up into the air and then ram Empoleon with Iron Tail!"

"Blast it away with Hydro Cannon, Empoleon!"

Pikachu was hit by another powerful blast of water, but not before landing his own attack. An explosion resulted from the clashing attacks, and a small cloud of dust obscured the visions of both Trainers. When the dust finally settled, both Pokémon were still standing firmly, albeit breathing heavily. It was quite obvious how exhausted they were from the battle, yet neither refused to back down, determination to win practically etched into their faces.

Ash and Barry both knew their Pokémon were at their limits and that they had to wrap things up fast. As both fighters charged towards each other, their respective Trainers called out their final attacks in a bid to win the match.

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle with all you've got!"

"Empoleon, end this with Hyper Beam now!"

Pikachu used Quick Attack to increase his speed as he became blurred into an electrically charged yellow aura. At the same time, Empoleon launched an incredibly powerful blast at the yellow rodent right as Pikachu hit the emperor penguin full force. Both Pokémon were blasted away from each other to the farthest ends of the field. Slowly, both combatants willed themselves to stand up as they glared at each other. However, before a single command could be ushered, Pikachu collapsed to the ground, completely out of it.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, therefore victory goes to Empoleon and Barry."

Once Brock gave his final verdict, Empoleon fell to the ground as well, unable to find the strength to keep standing. Both Trainers quickly made their way to their respective Pokémon, before congratulating them on a well fought battle. Even though Ash had lost, he knew that Pikachu had done quite well against a far stronger opponent. Besides, he thought, the next time he fights Barry, victory WILL be his!

"Ash was it? You fought very well, much better than I had thought. But I guess that was to be expected since you had a chance to learn from Paul himself. "

Upon hearing those words, Ash's anger came to a boiling point. How dare he try and say something as ridiculous as that! Before things could get out of hand however, Brock quickly interfered as Barry shrugged.

"Anyways, I don't have any more time to waste on you. I need to get my next Gym badge. I'm already at three!"

"Three? That's it? Ha! I have four!"

"Say what? Well, whatever. I'll pass you soon enough, don't you worry about that!"

And with that, Barry raced off, presumably to go and get his next badge, leaving a fuming Ash in his wake. The nerve of that kid! He was acting as though he was some sort of big shot Trainer, and Ash was nothing but a newbie Trainer to him! Well, he would show him soon enough, rest assured. He would show everyone for that matter. Soon, everyone will see just what exactly Ash Ketchum was made of!

As Ash made his way back into the Pokémon Center with Pikachu in his arms, Brock could see the fire that was burning in his eyes. It was a fire unlike any he had seen before. A fire that promised to doom to all those that dared to oppose him. A fire that signified the start of a great change in the Pokémon world.

**Well that's it for this chapter it seems. This chapter was more difficult for me to write than the first two, but somehow I managed to finish it. I know that in the anime, Ash had beaten Barry in their first encounter, but trust me, I have my reason for having the fight play out the way it did. At least I think I do. Anyways, thank you all again for your support and please review to tell me how I did and what I can do to make this story better. I'm also fine with pm if that's better for you than reviewing. As a final note, I was able to crank out chapters this quickly because I had the past two days off and college work was manageable. However, chapters may take longer to come out though I will still try to go for the 1-2 chapters per week minimum. See you all soon.**


	4. A New Friend!

**Before we begin, I would like to answer a PM I received. In respect to the person, I will not reveal the name, and would instead like to thank them for coming to me in PM with their complaints rather than just reading the story with the problem still in mind and not being able to truly enjoy the story. I want to answer this in public so that anyone else that may not like this story due to these issues can have their questions answered at the same time. I will not be answering in public again as I want to respect people's wishes an keep their PMs a secret. THIS IS ONLY TO ANSWER ANY SIMILAR QUESTIONS AND SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY CAN PM WITH ANY QUESTIONS THEY MAY HAVE! The first issue they had was of Ash's Pikachu being defeated so easily by Empoleon despite Ash and Pikachu having had experience in battling going through regions like Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. While it is true that Pikachu is quite powerful, especially in regard to its species, it does still tend to display its species fragility at times. While it is true that Pikachu has gone toe to toe with powerful legendaries, it has been shown to be susceptible weak in terms of defense against other Pokémon. For example, Pikachu has been able to take down Pokémon like Dragonite, Metagross and Regice. However, this very same Pikachu has also fallen incredibly easy to many Gym leaders, including some that Pikachu even had a type advantage to. Not to mention Pikachu losing to a newbie Trainer like Trip and his Snivy when they had just started out. Granted, Zekrom had made Pikachu's electric attacks practically unusable, however it's other moves had still been perfectly fine and electric attacks wouldn't have been any more effective on it anyways. The other issue seemed to be that Ash could just rotate to his stronger Pokémon such as Charizard, Sceptile, etc. While that is true, even in the anime Ash preferred to use his new Pokémon as well (In Unova, he even went so far as to only use the Pokémon he caught there.) He prefers to train all his Pokémon evenly as it also gives him a chance to bond with those new Pokémon. It's just how Ash is, he believes friendship can overpower strength. Yes he did swap Pokémon every now and then in other regions, but I never said he wouldn't do that in my story as well. He simply doesn't want to use and discard Pokémon like Paul does. However, he has no problem with swapping Pokémon from time to time if it works effectively into his strategy for whatever match. He does want to meet his old friends too after all. Same will be in my story. If this still does not fully answer your questions, feel free to PM me again and I will answer your questions in private. Once again thank you for coming to me with your questions, and now on with the story.**

"Ouch!"

Ash rubbed his swollen fist tenderly, a result of him punching a tree in anger. He couldn't believe he had lost like that, and to a Paul wannabe no less! After that promise he had made to himself to become far stronger than ever before, he went and lost to a Trainer when he had the type advantage. Pitiful, absolutely pitiful. Admittedly, that Empoleon had been well raised and quite powerful, no doubt about that. But his Pikachu was one of his strongest Pokémon, if not THE strongest, and also happened to have the advantage. He was going to become the Champion of Sinnoh like that? What a joke. That Barry kid had a better chance than him. Maybe Paul had the right idea, maybe getting the stronger Pokémon by his side was the best way to win. No! There was no way he was going to stoop to Paul's level! While his Pokémon may not be the strongest, they were still his friends. He couldn't just give up on them like that! But what should he do then?

As Ash continued to be lost in his inner turmoil, Pikachu was quite perplexed. While it wasn't too uncommon for his PikaPi to be upset from time to time, he usually wasn't this upset or upset for this long of a period. He knew that his PikaPi didn't like to lose, but it seemed as though this time was too much for him, and Pikachu couldn't bear to see him out of it like this. Just as Pikachu decided to shock Ash out of his misery, as that usually seemed to work, he suddenly sensed another presence hidden out of sight. From what Pikachu could tell, this was the same presence that had attacked them before and was the one to have been following them for so long.

Ash snapped out of his thoughts to see Pikachu charging up a Thunderbolt attack. At first, he thought Pikachu was going to shock him to snap him out of his depression, so he quickly raised his hands and told Pikachu he was ok. Seeing that Pikachu wasn't stopping his attack, Ash got a little worried and frantically tried to get Pikachu to calm down. When that didn't work, he decided to brace himself against the attack. Pikachu fired off his attack and the bolt of lightning headed towards Ash. Suddenly, it arced upwards and hit something hidden in the thick foliage of the tree. Ash heard a surprised cry of pain, as something flew out of the tree and landed not too far in front of them.

As their surprise visitor tended to its wounds, Ash could see that it was a small Pokémon that had a canine like appearance. It was mostly blue in color including its tail, with black coloration on its legs and torso area as well as around its eyes and nose. It seemed to have a yellow "collar" and rounded bumps on the back of its paws. Finally, it had red eyes, and long rounded ears. Even before he had pulled out his Pokédex to see what Pokémon this was, his memory told him that this creature was a Riolu.

Before Ash could have time to become mesmerized by this new Pokémon before him, Riolu had created an Aura Sphere attack and launched it at Ash. However, before it could hit its mark, Pikachu quickly intercepted the attack and used Iron Tail to deflect the ball of energy to a different location. As Pikachu tried communicating with Riolu, Ash remembered that Aura Sphere was a move that known to Lucario, Riolus' evolved form. He also knew though, that it was a move that could not be learned by Riolu until it had evolved, the only instance of it ever having been possible was that one Riolu that Ash had saved from the clutches of Hunter J. To see a Riolu that somehow knew that move was an incredibly rare find indeed. Out of the blue, Ash heard a voice that seemed to originate in his mind. When he saw that Pikachu and Riolu had stopped talking and were now looking at him, with Riolu staring at him rather intently, he realized that the 'voice' was Riolu using some form of telepathy to speak with him. Especially after what he heard next.

_'From what your Pikachu tells me, you seem to be a kind and caring person towards Pokémon. Tell me, would you ever hurt Pokémon?_'

"Of course not. I consider all Pokémon to be my friends and I would never dream of hurting them in any way. All of my Pokémon, especially Pikachu here, are my best friends, and I would much sooner die than let them come to harm."

'_That is good to hear. I thought that you might be a kind Trainer from what I've been seeing while following you these past couple of days. However, I still wanted to be sure that you really are what you seem to be._'

"But why have you even been following me in the first place?"

'_Do you remember another Riolu who could also use Aura Sphere?_'

" Well yes, there had been another Riolu who had been kidnapped from its home in the Paradise Kingdom. I had helped it get back home so it could resume its role as the Aura Guardian."

'_Yes, I'm well aware of that fact since he happens to be my sibling. He had been selected to become the Aura Guardian before I had been born. I'm quite happy with that though, since I would much rather see the world and go on an adventure._'

Ash was left shocked from this recent development. He had no idea that the Riolu he had helped also had a younger brother. He was also surprised that this younger brother also happened to have recognized him to be the Trainer from that time, even though they had never even met before this. Before he could voice out his confusion however, Riolu decided to resolve that issue himself.

'_Your aura. My brother had told me that your aura and his aura had been a perfect match. Since everyone's aura is different from each other and my aura is almost the exact same as my brother's, I simply matched up our auras and found that your aura is almost similar to mines and very much so to my brother's aura. That, and he had said that the Trainer had a Pikachu as well._'

"But then if you knew who I was, why had you attacked me so many times?"

'_Because I wasn't completely sure that you really were the same Trainer. While you did have a similar aura, I couldn't be sure that you weren't a Trainer who just happened to have a similar aura to that Trainer. By attacking you, I wanted to see what your reaction would be. Would you try to harm me? Or would you instead try to find another way to stop me from attacking? Although your Pikachu seemed to have caught on to me a few times and brought me into the open before I could truly be sure._'

"Why have you even been looking for me though? Why aren't you at your home in Paradise Kingdom alongside your brother?"

'_Like I said before, I would much rather prefer to go out on an adventure and see the world. I have always been curious about the world beyond our kingdom and have always wanted to see it with my own eyes. Everyone in the kingdom knew that, including my brother, so they allowed me to live my dreams as I saw fit. However, from what my brother had told me, there are too many bad people in this world who would only seek to harm me and capture me for cruel purposes. My brother had also told me of your kindness, and how you understood him well and went to great lengths to help him. I thought I would be much safer if I travelled the world alongside you. That is, of course, if it's ok with you._'

Ash didn't know what to say. The prospect of having a Pokémon like Riolu as a travelling companion was definitely an appealing thought to him. Besides, Riolu was quite powerful ad could end up being the key to turning Ash's life around and help him realise his own dreams. However he also didn't want Riolu to have his choices limited to where Ash went, in regards to travelling. He also didn't want Riolu to have to be 'caged in' with him when Riolu had been given a chance to travel and see the world as he pleased.

Riolu continued to focus his gaze on Ash, wondering what his answer would be. While he could simply use his aura to 'read' Ash's mind, he didn't want to risk influencing Ash's decision in any way, seeing as Ash could also sense aura. He did want to travel with Ash, but he also understood if Ash did not feel the same way. He wasn't going to force Ash into making a decision he may not like in the long run.

Pikachu saw both Pokémon and Trainer lost in their thoughts, and sighed. The whole 'getting lost in thought at the drop of a hat' thing was getting kind of annoying. Pikachu was afraid of even saying hello now as though that would suddenly trigger deep thought. Getting bored of being the only fully conscious being, Pikachu decided to go exploring for a little while. As he walked about, he saw Burmy hiding amongst the trees while little Cherubi were moving about, looking for the perfect place to sun bathe.

As Pikachu looked about, he suddenly sensed impending doom approach him. Before he could try to escape his death however, Dawn's Buneary came from out of nowhere and tackled him into a bone crushing hug. When Buneary finally did let go, she suddenly became very shy and hid her face in her fur. Pikachu was always left confused by her actions, as he found her behavior around him to be quite strange, and at times annoying. Some could say that Pikachu might be as dense in these matters as Ash was. As Buneary continued to be shy, and Pikachu continued to wonder if perhaps Buneary was sick or something, a trio of notorious criminals were currently spying on their usual beloved target.

Team Rockets' Jessie, James and Meowth were in no real way a serious threat to Ash and co. At times, they had even been of help to Ash in severe situations and potential crisis'. However, their constant attempts to capture Pikachu was also a constant pain to Ash and Pikachu, who grew tired of them following the duo wherever they went, and always trying to get their hands on Ash's greatest friend. Today happened to be no different as Team Rocket had devised yet another scheme to capture Pikachu.

"Jessie, are you sure that this particular Meowth mecha will work? I mean look at how many times we used a mecha, only to end up getting blasted off."

" Of course it will, James. This mecha is literally Thunderbolt proof with its rubber coated arms that contains a virtually indestructible cage. It's body is made of titanium and reinforced steel. It's also fireproof and waterproof, and can take anything those twerps can throw at us. You have absolutely nothing to worry about, right Meowth?"

"Of course, and as added assurance, I was the one to design this baby. It did cost us quite a bit of cash that I borrowed from Team Rockets' funds, but I know that the Boss won't mind once we hand him a primo Pokémon like Pikachu, and Buneary to boot. In fact, he will be so happy that he'll give us a promotion!"

All three members practically started to drool at the thought of getting promoted. This was it, their chance to shine and prove themselves to be the exemplary Team Rocket members that they knew they were. With a push of a button, one of the mecha's arms launched forward, grabbing Pikachu and Buneary and containing them within a cage. Pikachu tried in vain to use Thunderbolt to escape. He then tried Iron Tail on the cage, but to no avail. Both Pokémon then cried out to their respective Trainers.

Ash and Riolu snapped out of their trance and noticed the mecha, just as Brock and Dawn burst out of the Pokémon Center. Ash quickly pulled out a Pokéball and Buizel emerged from within with a battle cry. He had Buizel use Aqua Jet on the cage in an attempt to knock it off and free the captured beings inside. When that failed, he tried a Sonicboom followed by a Water Pulse. True to Team Rocket's claims, the giant machine easily withheld against the onslaught of attacks. Ash swapped Buizel with Chimchar and Turtwig. But even the combined attacks of Flamethrower and Razor Leaf had no effect against the might of the giant Meowth.

Ash, growing desperate, tried to think of what to do next. Riolu, sensing Ash's predicament, stepped in between Ash and Team Rocket, while getting into a battle stance. Ash realized Riolu's intentions and, silently thanking the Emanation Pokémon, had him use Quick Attack to quickly get close to the Meowth mecha. Before the colossal machine could react to Riolu's sudden approach, Riolu fired off a powerful Aura Sphere attack at its arms, severing its connection to the cage. As the cage plummeted to the ground, Riolu launched another Aura Sphere at the cage, blasting a hole right through it. Pikachu and Buneary quickly took the chance to escape as the cage smashed into the ground.

In retaliation, Team Rocket unleashed a powerful barrage of missiles hidden inside of the mecha's ears, quickly proceeding to annihilate their intended target. Riolu however had other plans as it skillfully weaved through the missiles, using Force Palm to misdirect any missiles that were headed towards the others. Launching himself into the air, Riolu launched an incredibly powerful Aura Sphere at Team Rocket's mecha, managing to pierce right through the head of the seemingly invincible machine. A huge explosion resulted from the attack, and it immediately sent Team Rocket blasting off towards the sky.

As the trio of crooks recited their usual monologue, "_It looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!_", Pikachu and Buneary quickly reunited with their respective Trainers in an embrace, as Riolu simply opted to watch them. Once Pikachu was safely perched atop his friend's shoulders, Ash walked over to his best friend's savior, and knelt down before him so they could talk.

"Riolu, I want to thank you for saving my buddy here from Team Rocket's clutched like you did. It was a very kind and courageous thing for you to do. I would be deeply honored if you chose to come along with us on our journey."

Riolu stared at Ash with pure surprise in his eyes, before he quickly embraced Ash in a hug.

'_I would be just as honored to travel with you and see the world alongside you. I know without a doubt now that you and i will become great friends._'

Ash could do nothing but agree as they continued to hug each other, while Brock and Dawn gazed happily at the two, and their newfound friendship.

**This marks the end of another chapter as Ash meets a new friend. This was my way of paying homage to the Riolu that Ash had met in the anime. Though they were only together for two episodes, I had thought that they had made a great team, and had wished that Riolu would have joined Ash. Now, while I have introduced Riolu into the story, I want you, the readers, to decide if he gets to stay with the group. On my profile page, I have created a poll as to whether Riolu should stay with Ash permanently, or if he should just travel with Ash for a little while and then leave. The poll will remain open until I post the next chapter, allowing me to take a little more time in writing the next chapter as well. While I personally would like to have Riolu stay, I would much rather have all of you decide on key aspects of where this story goes. Once again, please PM me with any questions you may have as well as review how I'm doing so far as it helps me out a lot. Speaking of reviews, I would like to give a big thanks to stars90 and MidnightFenrir for their wonderful comments and support for my story. Well, that's all folks!**


	5. A Very Special Badge!

**Hmm, what to say. First off, I would like to apologize for having taken so long with getting the newest chapter up. This chapter was quite difficult for me to write, and I often found myself editing some parts of the story every now and then. Next, I want to say that Riolu will be staying with Ash, as everyone seems to like him in the story. I had thought that with so many stories of Ash and Lucario, People would be bored of pairing them up again. But I was quickly proven wrong by the strong response I got. Thank you to all the people who took the time to vote in the poll, it was important for me to know how everyone felt about Riolu being in the story. But enough of all that, you ARE here to read the story after all. So let's just get on with it.**

**Disclaimer: Since this story is still on and not on the anime, I obviously still do not own Pokémon.**

The clouds had slowly parted ways to let in the sun, as it shone down magnificently upon Ash Ketchum, showering him with its glow. He was currently holding onto a new Pokéball, thinking of his new friend who now resided within it. As Brock and Dawn were congratulating him on gaining a new friend, Ash was feeling quite good. It was as if things had finally started turning around for him, as though things were finally going his way and would only get better from here on out. Ash turned around to face his friends, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Well guys, I think it's time to show the Hearthome Gym Leader just what I'm made of, don't you think?"

"Definitely Ash! I know you'll do great in this next gym, no matter what happens. No need to worry!"

"And regardless of whether you win or lose, I just know you'll give a great battle that everyone will remember for times to come. And it will be great to see how well you and Riolu will do together, as a team."

"Actually Brock, I won't be using Riolu at all for the entirety of this gym challenge."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"From what I've gathered from speaking with Nurse Joy, the Gym Leader here happens to be a user of ghost type Pokémon. Riolu, being a fighting type, would be completely useless against ghost types. Besides, I want Riolu to get some rest, and to give him a chance to see a gym battle firsthand. He can see just how powerful the Pokémon of Gym Leaders really are, without having to worry about being in combat himself."

Brock had to admit, Ash was being much more tactful than he normally was, usually preferring to create battle tactics in the middle of a fight. He was definitely happy that Ash was growing as a Trainer, and that he was getting to be a part of it. Dawn was also happy to see Ash much more confident than he had been yesterday. She had been sad to see her best friend's resolve breaking, it just wasn't the Ash she had come to know.

Pushing those thoughts out of their minds, the two friends chased after Ash, who had gotten so excited at the prospect of his next match that he suddenly decided to race to the Gym to get his match started. Apparently, some things just didn't change. As Ash was rounding the last corner towards the gym, he ran straight into someone, causing them both to fall to the ground. Ash rubbed his forehead in pain, as he glanced towards the other victim. He was completely shocked when the person turned out to be none other than Cynthia. Cynthia slowly rose up, rubbing her own forehead, before she looked at Ash in surprise.

"Ash? Is that you? What are you doing here? And why the rush?"

"Uh, Cynthia..."

Somehow, Ash 's mind seemed to have shut down, as he was left just standing there staring at her. He couldn't understand why this was happening to him. He could hear his heart beating very clearly at the moment, thudding rapidly, while his eyes were seeming glued to hers. Her beautiful, piercing gray eyes. Eyes that seemed to be penetrating right through his soul, leaving him completely exposed to her. He didn't know why this was happening. He only knew that, somehow, Cynthia was the cause. As he continued to gaze at her mindlessly, Brock and Dawn finally managed to catch up to their best friend, narrowly avoiding an accident themselves. As they both paused for a moment to catch their breaths, Brock noticed his friend's attentive gaze towards the Sinnoh Champion, who also seemed to be staring back at him, intrigued. Deciding to break the awkward silence that had seemingly sprang out of nowhere, Brock waved his hand in front of Ash's face, snapping him out of his trance. This also had the effect of gaining Cynthia's attention as well.

"Hey Ash, are you ok? You spaced out there for a bit, what happened? Also, I see that the very beautiful and talented Cynthia is here! What a strange coincidence. Or perhaps, it was fate that brought you here to me!"

At this, Brock quickly got down on one knee, placing one of Cynthia's hands into one of his own.

"Yes! Destiny itself has decided to unite us together, it was just meant to be! With you being the Champion of Sinnoh, and me being a great Pokémon Breeder, we complement each other perfectly! Just imagine, you will battle tough trainers with your powerful Pokémon until you're tired. Then when you come home, I will heal your Pokémon and soothe your exhaustion and relieve your stress. We will then hold hands as we gaze deeply into each other's eyes, lost in a beautiful..."

Brock was left incapable of finishing his speech to Cynthia, due to a powerful Poison Jab being shoved up his rear end, courtesy of his Croagunk. As Croagunk proceeded to haul his paralyzed master away, the remaining people were left in shock of what had just transpired. Dawn was amazed at her friend's boldness, Cynthia was surprised, and a little creeped out. Ash was seriously angry at Brock, though he couldn't understand why. He had seen Brock act that way with pretty much every pretty girl that they had encountered, and couldn't have been bothered by it in the slightest. But for the strangest reason, he wasn't able to understand it bothered him so much that Brock was doing the exact same thing with Cynthia. Deciding to put those thoughts on the back of his mind for the time being, he decided to ask Cynthia something.

"Hey Cynthia, any particular reason you're in Hearthome City? Weren't you visiting a friend or something?"

"Well yes, I am. It just so happens that my friend lives not too far from here. She had some important business to take care of here, so I decided to accompany her. It will take her some time, so I'm just looking around the city. It's been a while since I've come here."

"I see."

Unable to think of anything else to say, he decided to say goodbye to Cynthia and continue on towards the Gym, with Dawn, Croagunk and a still paralyzed Brock in tow. Before he could get very far however, he turned back to look at Cynthia. She was still standing at the same spot, gazing back at him. Dawn noticed the anxiety on Ash's face, and looked towards the blonde Champion. Making up her mind, she called out to Cynthia.

"Hey Cynthia, would you like to come with us and see Ash's Gym Battle? I'm certain that it will be an exciting match, and that you'll enjoy it very much."

Cynthia seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, before she looked at the group, smiled and then simply nodded. Relief seemed to spread across Ash, though he wasn't sure why he was so concerned about Cynthia watching his match. Maybe it was due to her being the Champion, and that he wanted to perform well in front of such a powerful Trainer? Perhaps he wanted to impress her as much as impossible with his battle skill? Whatever the reasons might be, he couldn't help but feel nervous at the same time. This could be his first and last chance to prove his worth as a Pokémon Trainer. He just HAD to give a great battle in front of the Champion, no matter what!

Once Cynthia had caught up to them, they made their way to the Gym. As they entered, they saw that the inside of the gym was dark. However, as soon as Ash approached the battle arena, a few spotlights shone down on the arena. Ash released Riolu from his Pokéball and had him join everyone else in the sidelines. Just as Ash got into position on his side of the arena, he heard a female voice with a thick accent echo out of a doorway on the other side of the field.

"Ah, it would appear that I have a new challenger, yes? Très fantastique! This shall be a most rejoiceful moment. I will be sure to, as they say, _deliver_ a most excellent battle. Let us now begin this battle, s'il vous plaît."

And just like that, from the doorway emerged a beautiful, fair skinned lady, with violet eyes and violet coloured hair that split into four parts, each part being an oval shaped bun. She was wearing an elegant purple dress, held together by a yellow cross at her right thigh, that seemed to sparkle in the light. She also wore purple high heels, and long white gloves. She gracefully made her way to her position on the arena.

"Well well, if it isn't dear Ash. You are ready for our rematch then, yes? Then let us not waste more time. I shall begin with my first Pokémon, s'il vous plaît."

And with that, Fantina hurled a Pokéball into the air, from which a Gengar emerged. As the Shadow Pokémon levitated in the air, Ash went into deep thought. After evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each Pokémon, he finally pulled out a Pokéball and released the Pokémon inside. Gligar came out with a battle cry, ready for the battle ahead. As the two Pokémon stared each other down, Cynthia was watching the battle intently. This would be the first time she would be seeing Ash battle, and she believed one could learn many things about a person from their battling style. She wanted to see just what kind of a person Ash was by seeing the way that he battled.

Without warning, Gengar raced down towards Gligar, it's right hand becoming darker in colour. Before Gligar had a chance to react, he was hit by a speedy Shadow Punch. Not giving Gligar a chance to recover, Gengar quickly struck him with a Nightshade attack. Following Fantina's orders fluidly, Gengar quickly launched a Hypnosis attack at Gligar. At the last second, however, Gligar launched itself away from the attack. The moment Ash called out a fast combination of attacks, Gligar obliged, using Sand Attack to momentarily blind Gengar, before following up with an X Scissor attack. As he was preparing to attack with Steel Wing however, Gengar's second Hypnosis attack hit home, causing Gligar to be rendered asleep.

Ash screamed out to Gligar to try and wake him up, but it was having no effect. Meanwhile, Gengar closed in on Gligar, unleashing a barrage of Shadow Punches. Gligar, still unconscious, was bruised and battered by Gengar's relentless attacking as Gengar prepared to end the battle with a final Night Shade attack. But it was not to be the way Gengar had planned, as Gligar managed to wake up and hurtled himself towards Gengar. Gligar hit Gengar with Steel Wing just as Gengar unleashed its Night Shade attack. A thick cloud, created from the resulting explosion, enveloped the two Pokémon. Eventually, the cloud parted ways, as both battling Pokémon were revealed to everyone as having been knocked out. Fantina was surprised for a bit as they recalled the fallen Pokémon, but that quickly turned into a smile.

"Bravo Ash, bravo! You have most certainly given me a great fight so far. But let us see how great you do against my next Pokémon."

And with that, Fantina released a Mismagius from another Pokéball. Seeing the Magical Pokémon as it floated around, Ash decided on his next choice and tossed his next Pokéball, Chimchar appearing from the resulting light. Chimchar looked around, and grew nervous when he saw Mismagius. However, his confidence was restored when he saw Ash. Not wanting to disappoint Ash, Chimchar prepared himself for combat, his tail flaring up.

Ash decided to draw first blood by having Chimchar start off with Flamethrower, but Mismagius quickly countered with Dark Pulse. Chimchar ran full force towards Mismagius, rolling up into a Flame Wheel. Mismagius avoided the attack but Chimchar continued Flame Wheel over and over again, slowly tiring it out. As Chimchar approached it for yet another Flame Wheel, Mismagius repelled him back with Psybeam before following up with Magical Leaf. In midair, Chimchar launched a Fire Spin to quickly burn away most of the leaves before they hit. The moment Chimchar recovered and landed on the ground, he quickly rolled into yet another Flame Wheel and charged towards Mismagius. Mismagius used Psywave to hit Chimchar hard before his attack could land, but Chimchar pushed through the attack and managed to hit it.

Chimchar was panting hard from using so many attacks at once and had sustained quite a bit of damage. Mismagius quickly capitalized on the chance and hit him with Dark Pulse. Chimchar fell to the ground, completely stiff. Ash was shocked, but continued to encourage Chimchar on as the referee started to announce the winner. However, before he could finish, a white light surrounded Chimchar, blinding everyone who looked at him. Once the light had faded, standing firmly in place was Monferno, who was feeling much better than he had a moment ago.

Capitalizing on the oppositions' surprise, Ash quickly had Monferno use Flame Wheel, who quickly obliged. Monferno landed a direct hit on Mismagius, who was instantly knocked out from the sheer level of power before it had even hit the ground. Utterly shocked from the sudden change of events, Fantina said nothing, opting to instead bring out her final Pokémon. As Drifblim emerged on the stage, Dawn, Brock and even Cynthia were left surprised by what had just transpired. But there were still more surprises in store for them, as they quickly started finding out. Drifblim started off with Will-O-Wisp but Monferno simply countered by using Fire Spin to capture the floating flames and have both attacks aimed towards Drifblim. To counter that, Drifblim used Psychic to redirect the attack back at Monferno, who quickly rolled up into Flame Wheel and absorbed the attacks, making his own attack even stronger. Fantina quickly realized what Monferno had done and tried to get Drifblim to dodge, but it was too late. Monferno hit Drifblim head on, doing severe damage to Drifblim. To say that Cynthia was impressed by that tactic was quite an understatement. But Ash had only just started.

Drifblim attempted to use Ominous Wind to both do damage to Monferno, and boost its own offensive and defensive powers. Monferno was just too fast however, and simply used Dig to dive into the ground and dodge the attack. Fantina and Drifblim were very cautious at this point, so Drifblim flew up higher into the air to try and avoid Monferno's attack. And right as Monferno emerged from the ground right where Drifblim was floating, Drifblim hit Monferno with a super effective Psychic attack. Not giving Monferno a chance to recover from the powerful attack, Drifblim quickly hit him with Ominous Wind, which in turn also boosted Drifblim's stats.

Monferno was in critical condition from having sustained so much damage, but when Ash decided to retreat Monferno, he quickly stopped Ash with a loud cry. Monferno wanted to prove his strength, and that he wasn't going to quit until the very end. Ash paused for a moment, before he smiled and nodded. He understood how important this was to Monferno, and he wasn't about to deny him this chance. Drifblim used Psychic again, but Monferno used Flame Wheel to speed up and avoid the attack. Using the momentum, Monferno quickly closed the gap between them before launching a Flamethrower attack at point blank range. The attack proved to be sufficient as Drifblim fell to the ground, rendered incapable of battling any further.

"Zut Alors, I have been bested! Your will and determination has proved to far surpass that of mines. Merci Beaucoup! You have given me a great battle and I thank you tremendously for it. It is my wish that you go even further ahead in your journey, and do far more exceptionally in all your future battles. Here is your badge and au revoir!"

With that, Fantina gracefully walked, or glided, away as the rest of the group walked over to Ash. Except for Riolu, who raced over to Ash and hugged him for having shown him an amazing battle. He had definitely learned a lot from that battle! While Brock and Dawn congratulated Ash on winning his fifth Gym Badge, Cynthia just watched Ash from a distance, amazed by the skill Ash had shown in his battle. She had thought that Ash might be good, but Ash had still managed to surprise her with his ingenuity. Ash turned to look at Cynthia and as his eyes locked with hers, he found himself at bliss. The badge was a great reward no doubt, but gazing into Cynthia's beautiful eyes was a reward all on its own. When Ash finally managed to break contact with Cynthia, he looked down at his newest badge. Somehow he felt as though this new badge was now going to be a special badge for him. A very special badge indeed.

**And with that, we conclude yet another chapter. Thank you all again for your wonderful comments. It feels good to know that people like the way I write and my style of writing. Also, to answer Lightningblade49, I actually will be having Ash do that as a way of training up his Pokémon faster. After all, there is much you can learn from your seniors right? Anyways, I will definitely try to get up the next chapter much faster next time. So please bear with me. :)**


	6. To Battle A Champion!

**Hello again everyone! I know you all must be upset with me for not having posted a new chapter in so long but work and college literally consumed 90% of my life, with sleeping and eating taking the last 10%. I was also at a crossroad of sorts as to where to take this story. For me, these last 5 chapters were simply an introduction to the story, setting the stage of Ash's journey and what he does. So I had also been spending time brainstorming ideas for new arcs in the story. For now, I have planned out this current arc and I'm currently working on the next arc. Depending on how people react to this arc, I may end up shaping the rest of the story differently from what I currently have planned . Also, since I do have the current arc already planned out, I should be able to post new chapters on a much quicker pace now. Assuming that work and college doesn't get any more hectic than it already is. Once again, I would like to apologize for the long delay and would also like to thank everyone for giving this story the huge response that it has received. All of you are the best! :D**

**Disclaimer: Despite my best attempts at negotiating, I still haven't acquired the rights to Pokémon. Bummer.**

Ash's newest badge was definitely special to him. First reason being that Chimchar, who had suffered so much at the hands of Paul, had bonded with Ash quickly, and had trusted him so much that he was willing to go to the extreme to defend Ash's honour. That trust had been what allowed Chimchar to evolve into Monferno and win him the badge. To Ash, this proved that he was heading in the right direction to becoming the strongest of them all. And then there was also the second reason...

Ash turned to look at Cynthia. For reasons unknown to him, he was glad that Cynthia had watched his battle, and that he managed to win in front of her and impress her. Although he decided to attribute that to him wanting to prove to the Champion that he was a powerful Trainer. While he didn't know what it was that was drawing him to her, he did realize that she was rapidly becoming someone who would be important to him.

Deciding to divert his thoughts away from his current confusing ones, he decided to enquire about his next badge. As Ash was alerted to the Mine Badge given by Byron in Canalave City by Brock, Cynthia was lost in thoughts of her own. The way Ash had battled at the Gym had definitely been quite impressive, but the bond and trust that both Trainer and Pokémon had shown had really amazed her. It was evident just how far his Pokémon would go for him, and vice versa. That level of mutual trust was intriguing to her.

Until recently, she hadn't known him too well, only having met each other once at Amity Square. Even that hadn't been a proper introduction. As she reflected on that, she also thought about how powerful of a Trainer Ash seemed to be. Not because of the strength of his Pokémon, though they were shown to have been very strong, but rather the conviction that Ash held, the willpower that he had displayed. Cynthia had fought many Trainers in her career as the Sinnoh Champion, but never had she met a Trainer who possessed as much love for his Pokémon and the determination to reach his goals as Ash did.

The moment she realized that about Ash, it ignited a fire inside of her. She wanted to test these qualities of Ash and see for herself just how much potential this Trainer truly possessed. Back when she herself had started out on her journey, Cynthia had only focused on becoming stronger and nothing else. Love and emotions were not something she wanted to get tied down by, as she thought of it as a weakness and an obstacle in her path of becoming the strongest of them all. It was only later on down the road, when she had already become Champion, did she have the time to reflect on the importance of bonds between Trainer and Pokémon, and the true strength that lied within those bonds.

In front of her stood a person who knew the importance of those connections with his Pokémon, and strived to deepen those feelings he had with each and every one of his Pokémon. In front of her stood a Trainer who had the strength to pursue his dreams to any extent, a Trainer who would never back down to any adversity that came his way, who would never doubt on the ability to make his dreams come true. In front of Champion Cynthia stood a man who represented everything that she herself aimed for, but so far had failed in obtaining.

While she had the strength that came from being a Champion, she did not have the strength that Ash seemed to possess in ample amounts. With all that in mind, she approached Ash, who had just exited the Gym with his friends and was making a final stop at the Pokémon Center to take care of some business. As Ash stopped and turned around to face Cynthia, she quickly took a deep breath and fixed her steely gaze on him. Before Ash could utter a single word, Cynthia beat him to the punch line.

"Ash, I was quite impressed by the way you had fought in your Gym battle. The way you handled yourself in that fight told me a lot about your battle style, and the unity of your Pokémon and yourself was quite evident with the way that you commanded them."

At this point, Cynthia paused and lowered her head. Ash was surprised to hear such praise from someone as strong as the Champion, and if he had been happy before from Cynthia watching his match then this caused him to end up on Cloud Nine. He wanted to thank her for her kind words, but he could sense that Cynthia hadn't finished yet. Ash waited patiently for the blonde beauty to continue, as she slowly raised her head again and returned her attention back to him.

"What I want to say is, Ash, would you like to have a battle with me? I want to see just what it is your capable of, and see just how far you'll go to defend your dreams."

For a while, absolutely nothing was said, as Ash opted to just stare at her. Even Brock and Dawn had simply resorted to just looking at her, seemingly in deep thought. Seconds flew by, turning into several long minutes. Yet nobody had said anything. All of a sudden, a huge grin plastered itself on Ash's face. This was more than what he had bargained for. Never in a million years had he thought that the Champion of Sinnoh, no, the Champion of ANY region would consider him good enough to want to battle him. True, he had trained very hard in these past few years since starting his journey, and had gained tons of experience in battling from it all, but he had never thought that his current level of skill would warrant him such an honour.

Before Cynthia could have a chance to change her mind, Ash quickly blurted out his agreement. Cynthia just resorted to smiling and nodding. As Dawn and Brock followed the two battlers outside to the Pokémon Center's arena, they couldn't help but feel a tinge of worry and excitement. Worry for their friend and how he would fare against such a powerful opponent, and excitement for the great battle that they knew they would be seeing.

Both Ash and Cynthia got into their places on opposite sides of the arena, raw determination etched on their faces. Brock stepped forward to play the role of referee, quickly stating that the match would be a one on one match, with the last Pokémon standing being declared the winner. Both Trainers paused for a moment to consider their choices, before pulling out a Pokéball each. As the Pokémon were released from their containment, both Trainers shouted out:

"Glaceon, Battle Dance!"

"I choose you, Cyndaquil!"

With a loud squeal , Cyndaquil reared up, his back blazing into a strong flame. Glaceon opted to stand still, observing her opponent with calm eyes. Cynthia gave Ash the honor of attacking first, which Ash gladly took. Knowing that taking on such a strong opponent head on so early in the match would be extremely foolish, Ash had Cyndaquil start off with a Smokescreen attack in a bid to try and hide Cyndaquil from Glaceon's gaze. Cyndaquil then followed up with Agility to become a blur and make it even more difficult for Glaceon to find him. Without warning, Cyndaquil struck Glaceon with a strong Flame Wheel attack, only to quickly disappear. Cyndaquil continued his onslaught of Flame Wheels, disappearing before Glaceon could have a chance to react.

Cynthia knew that things were quickly turning bad for her and that Ash was trying to push for an early advantage in the fight. Quickly calming down, Cynthia had Glaceon use Icy Wind to blow away the Smokescreen and then follow up with a Quick Attack, throwing Cyndaquil off balance as he was turning around to attack Glaceon. As Cyndaquil was slowly getting up, Glaceon unleashed a Hail attack, causing huge chunks of ice to rain down upon them. Suddenly, Glaceon disappeared from Cyndaquil's view, only to reappear right behind him. Cyndaquil quickly turned around, only to be blasted by a powerful Ice Beam at point blank range. The blast sent Cyndaquil careening into a nearby tree just outside the arena.

Ash tensed up a bit, realizing that the situation had suddenly become grave. He knew that Glaceon had the ability Snow Cloak, which raised her evasion while it was hailing. His evasion tactics from earlier were nothing in comparison to what was happening now. If he didn't think of something fast, this match could very well end up over in the blink of an eye. He racked his brain to think of a counter to the hail even as Glaceon struck Cyndaquil with a quick Ice Fang attack, before disappearing to end up far away from him. Cyndaquil stood resolutely as his back blazed back to life, although Glaceon's attacks combined with hail damage was starting to take a huge toll on him.

Ash quickly had Cyndaquil use Flame Wheel and run circles around the arena at high speeds. Cynthia, not knowing what Ash's strategy was, had Glaceon fire off continuous Ice Beams at Cyndaquil, which he managed to avoid. Cynthia then noticed something. The hail, while still present, was progressively diminishing away. That's when she realized Ash's plan. By having Cyndaquil use Flame Wheel at high speeds around the arena, he was superheating the air around them, causing the hail to begin melting before it had even reached the ground, effectively nullifying its effects.

She had Glaceon use Ice Shard to quickly stop Cyndaquil in its tracks, but Ash had other plans. Before the attack could land on him, Ash had Cyndaquil use Flamethrower on the ground while still in Flame Wheel, propelling him into the air. While in midair, Cyndaquil launched another Flamethrower at Glaceon, which she quickly avoided. Cyndaquil, far from finished, used Aerial Ace to strike Glaceon before she could react again. Before Glaceon could even get up, Cyndaquil used Quick Attack to cover ground before using a speed boosted Tackle to ram her into a tree.

Ash, growing very confident now, ordered Cyndaquil to use another Flamethrower. Cynthia had had enough however, and told Glaceon to use Blizzard. Before Flamethrower could land, a powerful blast of snow quickly dissipated the flames, and then struck Cyndaquil with an incredible fury. The attack was too powerful for the fire mouse to withstand, blasting him off of his feet and right through one tree and bending another before he could stop. Cyndaquil was motionless with his eyes closed and Ash grew worried for his friend. He called out to him to get him to stand up, but Cyndaquil gave no response.

Brock assessed the current situation and from what he could see, despite all the damage she had sustained, Glaceon seemed fine and still quite capable of continuing the fight. Cyndaquil however was a different story. His bruised and battered form was proof that he had taken more damage than he was capable of handling, and that last attack had especially done a number on him. Enough, it seemed, to have knocked him into unconsciousness. Thinking that it was over, he decided to end the match.

"Cyndaquil is unable to battle any further. Therefore, victory goes to Glaceon and the winner is Cyn-"

Suddenly, a blinding white light spread over Cyndaquil's still form, slowly stretching and expanding in size before finally diminishing. What everyone saw after the light had disappeared shocked them. Standing erect and ready for more battling, instead of Cyndaquil, they saw a powerful and a relatively healthier looking Quilava, with fierce flames shooting out from the top of his head and back where his tail would be. While Quilava and Glaceon glared at each other, Ash quickly took the opportunity to scan his friend's new form.

"Awesome! I see you've learned a new move as well. That's great! Now then, let's see what you can do."

And with that, Quilava charged towards Glaceon, rolling into a Flame Wheel in the process. Glaceon was no pushover however, and quickly jumped into the air to avoid the attack. But that was exactly what Ash was hoping she would do.

"Quick! Now's your chance! Use Eruption with all you've got!"

Quilava's flames grew larger as a large geyser of fire erupted from his head and engulfed Glaceon. Despite the fact that Quilava was still quite injured, thereby drastically reducing the power of his attack, it was still a strong super effective attack that managed to do severe damage on the ice eeveelution. With strained effort, Glaceon slowly managed to bring itself up as Quilava was exhausted from the sheer amount of energy that was used up in the attack.

Despite their incredibly weakened conditions, neither of the Pokémon were willing to give up, staring each other down as though their life depended on it. Both Trainers were touched by the sheer determination that their Pokémon showed. Not willing to make their friends' efforts pointless, both Trainers decided to try and wrap things up quickly for their Pokémons' sake.

"Now Glaceon, end this with Ice Beam."

"Quilava, use a full power Flamethrower!"

Both Pokémon released their respective attacks, where they collided in the middle in a battle for power. The attacks seemed to be at equal strength as they continued to push each other but neither budging even an inch from the centre. This continued on for several minutes with neither side willing to give up. As red flames and blue ice continued to battle for dominance, they created a white light in the centre that rapidly started expanding until it finally exploded, causing both attacks to backfire on their users. Smoke shrouded the arena, making it difficult to determine the condition of the Pokémon within.

Brock waited patiently for the smoke to dissipate, while Ash and even Cynthia were anxious as to what had happened to their Pokémon. When the smoke finally did settle, every single person was left in complete and utter shock of what they saw. In the middle of the arena stood a young girl. She had a pale complexion and a slender body, long, black hair that seemed to be flowing in the wind, and deep blue eyes that almost seemed to be translucent. She was wearing a light blue dress that went down to her ankles, with a light pink ribbon wrapped around her waist that kept the top half of her dress tightly conformed to her body. Her dress was embroidered with light green floral designs. On either side of her lay Quilava and Glaceon, both being completely unconscious.

Ash and Cynthia each took out a Pokéball and returned their Pokémon back into them, before turning their attention to the newcomer. Ash called out to her, asking her who she was and where she came from, but she said nothing. Brock, Cynthia and even Dawn who had been watching from the sidelines also called out to her but they too were met with no response. The strange girl simply opted to just stare at them. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and slowly approached her, watching her tentatively. Taking it as a sign of her being friendly, Ash also walked up to her, put Pikachu back up on his shoulder and extended his hand out in a warm welcome.

"Hello there. My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town. This is my best friend and partner, Pikachu. Who are you?"

The girl's gaze seemed to intensify upon him, making him feel a little nervous. Cynthia decided to introduce herself as well and walked up to them. As soon as she reached them, the girl looked up towards the sky and let out a long, high pitched shriek just as a huge gale of wind hit them. Everyone tried to cling onto something in an attempt to keep themselves from being blown away from the sheer force of the wind, except for the girl who continued to just stand there while screaming at the clouds. Ash and Cynthia both reached out and ended up grabbing each other's hands. Eventually, both the girl and the wind quieted down, letting everyone currently on the field to breathe out a sigh of relief. The only problem was, Brock and Dawn happened to be the only ones on the field.

The duo looked around for signs of their friends, but they couldn't see Ash, Cynthia and Pikachu anywhere. Even the strange girl had disappeared without a trace. Realizing that something was severely wrong, they quickly rushed back into the Pokémon Center to try and contact the city's local Officer Jenny. Together, they could get a search party going and try to find their missing friends. All they could do now besides that was hope that their friends were alright and somewhere safe. They had no idea that their friends were much farther away from them than they could ever imagine.

Ash gained consciousness to the sound of Pikachu trying to wake him up. The electric mouse had started charging up a Thunderbolt and was just about to fire it at Ash when he noticed his friend starting to stir. Pikachu quickly jumped on top of him and started licking his face while Ash looked around. The sun had started to set in the east over a range of mountains some distance away from him, while he seemed to be in a desert of sor- wait what? The sun was setting in the east? Ash quickly got up and looked around more carefully, while Pikachu held on for dear life to make sure he didn't fall down from the sudden movement.

From what Ash could see, he appeared to be in a flat desert that seemed to be... burned? The sand had a dark brown - reddish tinge to it with the occasional random dark spot. The little plant life he could see dotting the landscape also seemed to have been mostly burned down, with the occasional living cactus seemingly fighting for survival. The desert seemed to stretch on forever, eventually meeting with the reddening sky above, the only separation being the mountain range in the east where the sun indeed seemed to be setting.

Ash couldn't make sense of where he was. One minute he was introducing himself to that strange girl, and the next minute he was here away from all of his friends except for Pikachu, in a seemingly strange place. As he continued to look around, Pikachu alerted him to something half buried in sand not too far away. He carefully approached it to see that it was a person with their face hidden from view. They had long blonde hair and were wearing a black coat and- wait a second!

Ash quickly rushed to the person and turned them around to see that it was none other than Cynthia! So she had somehow ended up here as well then. Did that mean that maybe Brock and Dawn were here too? He quickly looked around and went to check out things that may tell him where his friends were, or better yet, find his friends themselves. Pikachu decided to wait with Cynthia in the mean time. Ash continued to search but no matter where he ran, he could find neither hide nor hair of them. Eventually giving up, he made his way back to where Pikachu and Cynthia were. Cynthia still hadn't woken up so he sat down next to her, deep in thought about the events that had transpired, leading them into their current situation.

Everything had been perfectly fine until that strange girl had shown up. So she must have been the cause of the predicament they were in now. He assumed Brock and Dawn were still back at the Pokémon Center since they were the furthest away from that girl while Cynthia, Pikachu and him were standing right next to her. which would also explain how they both were here with him right now. Which would also mean that to get back to where they were before, they would have to find that girl again, assuming that she was also in this place.

Ash laid down next to Cynthia and looked up towards the sky. This place, wherever it was, was definitely a strange one. He couldn't help but feel that something strange and yet equally important would happen here though, as though they had stumbled into a strange but serious predicament that this place was in. He didn't know how he knew that, he just simply knew that. Ash could sense Cynthia starting to stir, so he tilted his head towards her. What he saw made his heart flutter. Cynthia was lying on her sides and facing him, a hand supporting her head. A strand of hair was spread over her face, and with her eyes closed, her face seemed to be radiating a serene calmness. Her curvaceous body was gently rising and falling with each breath she took. All in all, in the current moment, she was exemplifying beauty and perfection in Ash's eyes.

As her eyes slowly fluttered open, Ash felt as though his heart was going on a rampage in his chest. He had always thought of her as being pretty, but he had never seen this side of her before. To him, she appeared to be a goddess. As they both continued to gaze into each other's eyes, Pikachu's ears perked up to the sound of motion. Ash, sensing his friend's sudden distress, got up and looked around. The trio had suddenly become completely surrounded by Pokémon!

**And... That's a wrap! Hopefully this will make things a little more interesting. I currently have 3-5 chapters planned for this arc, possibly more depending on how well the story is received. I was intending to make the story longer, but I wanted to leave things at an interesting point. That, and I wanted to get out a chapter to let everyone know that I am indeed still alive and have not abandoned this story in any way. From now on, chapters should be much longer and hopefully coming out much more frequently. On the bright side, this chapter is at least my current longest chapter now, so that should be somewhat of an appeasement to you all? Finally, reviews. Thank you to Joda-Eragonsson, greenblue22, Chrisj92, CaveCoding, and the anonymous guest for your kind words. Thank you also to chunnin33 and Lord Hydra for your nice critical review. It's always encouraging to me to see so many people enjoy what I've written. Flipnhaole and Lord Hydra, I do intend to bring back the rest of Ash's Pokémon. In fact I've already started doing that as you'll soon see. And Lightningblade49, your right, that would indeed have sucked for Ash lol :P. Anyways, please review or message me with any questions comments and concerns that you may have. I am always happy and willing to help with any and all confusions you may have. Until next time, Pokéfans!**


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